Chrome version 148.0.7778.178 is stopping Android tablet users from opening the browser at all. Tap the icon and the app throws a message reading “You can have up to 5 windows” before collapsing back to the home screen in under a second. It happens even with nothing else running and no other Chrome windows open anywhere.
The issue surfaced on the Chrome subreddit when Reddit user ExplodedSpaceToast posted that their Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ had suddenly stopped launching Chrome after exhausting the usual fixes: clearing the cache, force-stopping the app, restarting the tablet, and confirming Android was fully up to date.
The thread filled with similar reports almost immediately. PiunikaWeb, which first flagged the Chromium Issue Tracker escalation, confirmed that a verified Chrome Support Manager replied directly in the thread asking affected users to submit their Android build number, device model, Chrome version, and any active window counts to help the engineering team isolate the cause.
TL;DR: Chrome 148.0.7778.178 is crashing on launch across multiple Android tablet brands with a spurious “5 windows” error. Samsung Galaxy tablets are most affected, with Lenovo and Xiaomi tablets also hit. Google has classified this as a P1 priority bug on the Chromium Issue Tracker. Rolling back Chrome updates via the Play Store is the only confirmed workaround while a patch is in development.
Which devices are affected
Samsung tablets are taking the hardest hit. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE, Tab S6 Lite, and Tab A11+ appear most frequently across Reddit threads and the Chromium Issue Tracker. The problem is not Samsung-specific, though. Reports on a second Reddit thread, include the Lenovo Tab M11 and the Xiaomi Pad 6 showing the identical error, which rules out a single OEM’s firmware as the culprit.
The crash is indifferent to the usual variables. Users have confirmed it fires on different Android versions, with no background apps running, and after fully restarting the device. Standard cache clears and force-stop attempts change nothing.
Why Chrome is miscounting its own windows
Developer discussion on the Chromium Issue Tracker, summarised by PiunikaWeb and Android Authority, points to Chrome’s recently added desktop-style multi-window behavior for tablets. A recent Chrome build introduced the ability for incognito tabs to open as separate standalone windows rather than as tabs inside a single Chrome instance, bringing Android tablets closer to a desktop browsing experience.
On lower-memory tablets, Chrome appears to lose track of those standalone windows after they are closed. The browser retains a ghost count of sessions that no longer exist, concludes it has already reached the five-window maximum, and refuses to open a new instance. The five-window cap exists as a stability guardrail. The bug makes it fire even when the actual count is zero.
According to developer notes cited by PiunikaWeb, Google’s engineers are reviewing code changes that would disable that incognito standalone window behavior specifically on tablets below certain RAM thresholds. Nothing has shipped yet.
The only workaround that is actually working
Multiple users in the original Reddit thread, and on a separate thread found by Android Authority, confirmed that rolling back Chrome to its factory version clears the problem. If standard fixes like cache clears have already failed, the Chrome not working on Android guide covers the full reset path. For the rollback specifically, go to Settings, open Apps, find Chrome, tap the overflow menu, and select “Uninstall updates.” The browser reverts to the version that shipped with the device before the 148 update and opens normally again.
Synced data, including bookmarks and saved passwords, returns automatically once you sign back in. Unsynced local tabs from the most recent session will be lost. Disabling auto-updates for Chrome in the Play Store immediately after the rollback is worth doing, otherwise the same build may reinstall overnight.
If a temporary switch makes more sense, the best browsers for Android include several that work cleanly on tablets. Firefox for Android and Samsung Internet are both stable right now and carry over saved data reasonably well.
What P1 classification actually means for the timeline
Google’s Chromium Issue Tracker uses a P1 designation to flag bugs that block core functionality entirely. It sits at the top of the internal priority queue and typically accelerates a fix into the nearest available release window. Chrome on Android updates through the Play Store independently of Android system updates, so when a patched build clears internal review it arrives as a standard app update rather than requiring a full firmware patch cycle.
There is no confirmed release date yet. Watching for a Chrome update above version 148.0.7778.178 in the Play Store is the clearest signal that the fix has shipped. If you rolled back and disabled auto-updates, re-enable them once that version appears.
